Residual keratan sulfate in chondroitin sulfate formulations for oral administration.

Vitor H Pomin, Adriana A Piquet, Mariana S Pereira, Paulo A S Mourão

Laboratório de Tecido Conjuntivo, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho and Programa de Glicobiologia, Instituto de Bioquímica Médica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Cidade Universitária, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21941-913, Brazil. vhpomin@gmail.com

Carbohydrate polymers 2012 Oct 1

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Chondroitin sulfate is a biomedical glycosaminoglycan (GAG) mostly used as a dietary supplement. We undertook analysis on some formulations of chondroitin sulfates available for oral administration. The analysis was based on agarose-gel electrophoresis, strong anion-exchange chromatography, digestibility with specific GAG lyases, uronic acid content, NMR spectroscopy, and size-exclusion chromatography. Keratan sulfate was detected in batches from shark cartilage, averaging ∼16% of the total GAG. Keratan sulfate is an inert material, and hazardous effects due to its presence in these formulations are unlikely to occur. However, its unexpected high percentage compromises the desired amounts of the real ingredient specified on the label claims, and forewarns the pharmacopeias to update their monographs. The techniques they recommended, especially cellulose acetate electrophoresis, are inefficient in detecting keratan sulfate in chondroitin sulfate formulations. In addition, this finding also alerts the manufacturers for improved isolation procedures as well as the supervisory agencies for better audits. Analysis based on strong anion-exchange chromatography is shown to be more reliable than the methods presently suggested by standard pharmacopeias. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Vitor H Pomin, Adriana A Piquet, Mariana S Pereira, Paulo A S Mourão. Residual keratan sulfate in chondroitin sulfate formulations for oral administration. Carbohydrate polymers. 2012 Oct 1;90(2):839-46